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Dealing with Muscle Imbalance

Since people usually play with only 1 arm, I am sure some of you have noticed that the side you play with gets noticably bigger than the other side. So my question is, what do you guys do to deal with this? Do you try to strengthen the otherside at all?

I use to weight train when I was in Canada, so I was able to strengthen the left side of my body as well. But since I have came to asia for the summer, I have not weight trained at all.

I'm curious of what other people do for muscle imbalance. Any body have any ideas what pros do?

Well I work out, so to fix this problem I generally do bicep, tricep, shoulder, back, chest, and leg excercizes. Since I am right handed, using the same weights for both sides of the body, under the notion that my right side may have an easier time and my left side will have a harder workout. This will cause my left side to grow faster from weight training and my right side to not really benefit at all.

But with the absent of my weight training stuff in Asia, I was thinking about using a weighted raquet and practice techniques wtih my left arm. Just curious if anyone has tried that or anything else, and how well it has worked for them

LOL...Its not just my arms that's imbalanced, even my legs are noticably imbalanced. When I measured up my legs (out of curiosity), I noticed my right thigh was 2inches bigger than my left thigh.

Anyway, I do push-ups (is it known as shoulder presses I saw some people using this term but I dunno what it means) and squats (I apply more pressure on my left leg by leaning more towards it and only using my toes as support) before my sleep each day. Im pretty poor and thus I've got no money to buy weights...

In any case, I find that arms are more balanced now. The right arm is not as "outstanding" as before...however, I don't find much difference on my legs. I haven't measured up for a long time.

Is there anything wrong with having inbalanced muscles, except from esthetical point of view?

When you have muscle imbalances, you will tend to compensate the insuffecient muscle with your other part of the body. This is done subconciously and thus you won't feel it.

A simple test would be to stand on your right leg, and tip toe. Then switch over to your left leg and tip toe. Remember to stand on one leg only. You will feel that one of your leg is easier to lift your body easier than the other.

Is there anything wrong with having inbalanced muscles, except from esthetical point of view?

Understandably, many people focus on muscle imbalance between the dominant side of the body (i.e. the right side of the body for right-handers and left side of the body for left-handers) vs. the weaker side. IMHO, there may be a bigger problem when one has muscle imbalance on the SAME side of the body.

For badminton players, the negative effect of muscle imbalance on the same side often manifests itself in various forms of injuries. The type of injury often reflects where the muscle imbalance exists. For example, focusing on building the upper body for powerful smashes while neglecting training of the thigh muscles will put significantly more stress on the knees, leading to knee injuries.

Another example may be focusing on building up biceps for smashing and clearing power while neglecting the training of shoulder and rotator cuff muslces. This may lead to shoulder injury because the shoulder muscles can no longer support the additional stress brought on by the quicker and more powerful bicep movements.

IMHO, imbalance of muslces on the same side probably warrants more concern than imbalance of muscles on opposite sides of the body. The latter is natural and likely won't bring on health issues. But consciously building up certain muscles on one side of the body while neglecting the rest of the muscle groups on the same side increases the chance of injury playing badminton.

Understandably, many people focus on muscle imbalance between the dominant side of the body (i.e. the right side of the body for right-handers and left side of the body for left-handers) vs. the weaker side. IMHO, there may be a bigger problem when one has muscle imbalance on the SAME side of the body.

For badminton players, the negative effect of muscle imbalance on the same side often manifests itself in various forms of injuries. The type of injury often reflects where the muscle imbalance exists. For example, focusing on building the upper body for powerful smashes while neglecting training of the thigh muscles will put significantly more stress on the knees, leading to knee injuries.

Another example may be focusing on building up biceps for smashing and clearing power while neglecting the training of shoulder and rotator cuff muslces. This may lead to shoulder injury because the shoulder muscles can no longer support the additional stress brought on by the quicker and more powerful bicep movements.

IMHO, imbalance of muslces on the same side probably warrants more concern than imbalance of muscles on opposite sides of the body. The latter is natural and likely won't bring on health issues. But consciously building up certain muscles on one side of the body while neglecting the rest of the muscle groups on the same side increases the chance of injury playing badminton.

I can't agree more. But, a muscle imbalance in a large muscle group in the back, or chest area may cause some problems. The stronger side on your back or chest will pull at the weaker side, which may lead to injuries as well as the muscle not looking very good asthetically. People have always tried to reduce muscle imbalance by ALWAYS working opposing muscle groups, and ALWAYS stretching opposing muscles (bicep/tricep, back/pec, quad/ham). Although it is extremely important to have muscle balance on the same side of the body, a muscle imbalance on both sides can also lead to problems.

shoulder injuries

I also notice that my right arm are bigger than the left one. However, I did not put any training on my other arm to balance it. I also focusing on building a powerful smash and clearing strike, since I play mostly against men than women. As result, I have a shoulder injury for two weeks. I have to hung my racket for a while and it is not easy while my mind wants to be on the B-court. My question is how to cure this injury and is anybody ever have this problem before?

Originally Posted by JCanada

Understandably, many people focus on muscle imbalance between the dominant side of the body (i.e. the right side of the body for right-handers and left side of the body for left-handers) vs. the weaker side. IMHO, there may be a bigger problem when one has muscle imbalance on the SAME side of the body.

For badminton players, the negative effect of muscle imbalance on the same side often manifests itself in various forms of injuries. The type of injury often reflects where the muscle imbalance exists. For example, focusing on building the upper body for powerful smashes while neglecting training of the thigh muscles will put significantly more stress on the knees, leading to knee injuries.

Another example may be focusing on building up biceps for smashing and clearing power while neglecting the training of shoulder and rotator cuff muslces. This may lead to shoulder injury because the shoulder muscles can no longer support the additional stress brought on by the quicker and more powerful bicep movements.

IMHO, imbalance of muslces on the same side probably warrants more concern than imbalance of muscles on opposite sides of the body. The latter is natural and likely won't bring on health issues. But consciously building up certain muscles on one side of the body while neglecting the rest of the muscle groups on the same side increases the chance of injury playing badminton.

I also notice that my right arm are bigger than the left one. However, I did not put any training on my other arm to balance it. I also focusing on building a powerful smash and clearing strike, since I play mostly against men than women. As result, I have a shoulder injury for two weeks. I have to hung my racket for a while and it is not easy while my mind wants to be on the B-court. My question is how to cure this injury and is anybody ever have this problem before?

Its always better to prevent injuries than having to cure them. You should be warming up and warming down properley, and also focusing on the correct technique. As for your injury, it is always good to see a doctor, but your only real option is to let it heal. Although this may be hard, rest will prevent you from injuring your shoulder even further.

...yeah...i guess this happens to all of us...it's usually more noticeable in more experienced players and people who have been playing for a longer period of time i think. but what i do sometimes to avoid my left arm from being too much bigger than my right is to use my right arm to do things during the day instead of my left. for instance...last semester at school...i had to carry around 5 textbooks the whole day for all my classes...instead of using my left arm...i used my right...that way...it got some work to do and isn't too much smaller than my left. i think this can work pretty well...like...when you go to pick up some milk at the grocery store...use your other arm. i'm not sure or not...but i've read either here or somewhere else that by using the opposite side of your body, your brain will benefit somehow which is also good...hope it helps...

I've noticed that my left leg is has become better at things like skipping while my right leg has become better at things like lunging. I believe its because of the different uses of the legs in badminton. I'm right handed and therefore lunge with my right leg, however when i do scissor kick on my backhand corner I jump with mostly my left leg. When i do squats and lunges in the gym it is definately way easier with my right leg.

One of the way to deal with muscle inbalance is to do plyometrics or pilates. It really does help. I've tried it and i found that, my body is way out of balance. After few months of trainning and conditioning, i find that both left and right is equally strong and balanced. However the problem is that need maintenance workout for it to be balance in the long run.

One of the way to deal with muscle inbalance is to do plyometrics or pilates. It really does help. I've tried it and i found that, my body is way out of balance. After few months of trainning and conditioning, i find that both left and right is equally strong and balanced. However the problem is that need maintenance workout for it to be balance in the long run.

I recognized an growing imbalance at my back muscles, so I fear (sometimes here a crack noise from my vertebral column) I could get spinal damage when the imbalance grow. I could imagine some vertebra could get displaced due to the imbalance muscle pull.

So I am asking for some exercises which build up only one side of the back muscles (only my left side). I more an anabolic type, my muscles grow pretty fast^^.